Category Archives: Active Disassembly

This can also be seen at:http://activedisassembly.blogspot.ca/2014/04/phonebloks-more-detail-potential-for.html

For related resources, Design for Disassembly, Eco-Design, Environment and AD Technology, guidelines can be downloaded for free at:

http://www.activedisassembly.com/strategy/

PhoneBloks: More detail & potential for Active Disassembly

Phonebloks is an amazing concept in terms of modular design and longevity. Through the facilitation of upgrade and repair, the modules are a vehicle for changes. This keeps the product from having to be entirely replaced. The overall environmental impact could be significantly reduced if the market traction comes to fruition. But why stop at repair and upgrade?

Besides ‘Design for X’, in the case of this Phonebloks example, Design for:

– ‘Upgrade’ (DfU)

– ‘Repair’, (DfRep)

– ‘Modules’, (DfMod)

We propose ‘Design for Security’ (DfS), ‘Design for Remanufacture’ (DfRem) and ‘Design for Recycling’ (DfR).

But how? We suggest ‘Design for Active Disassembly’ (DfAD). ‘Active Disassembly’ (AD) could be incorporated to secure strategic modules while automating the remanufacture and recyclability of any number of modules or the product entirely.

In our previous entries here (blogger) and here (AD) where we discussed these Eco-Design methods to extend product component lives. And as we stated, because AD technology offers controlled disassembly within a hierarchical regime, AD can be used to not just frame the modules or their dismantling, security of their connections could applied with material specific use enclosing:

– integrated AD components for a wider variety of functions, reliability and security.

In addition to the security and integrity applications, environmental and cost considerations could further the usability of the Phoneblok concept, for example:

– automated release through various efficiency including reduced work & speed requirements and automation assisting:

* remanufacturing

* recyclability

* mass module upgrades

* mass repair systems

* remote control

* user preference controls.

All of these design features above however, can be cross-fertilized and modified further through modules in modules for example, a battery cell withing a batter module could replaced while keeping it’s box or module package, intact. The same could be applied for camera, wireless, memory modules and other fast pace improvement aspects of the product.

There is so much potential for this is a great example of ‘Design for Modules’ (DfMod) Concept. When this hits the market, this will be a great interpretation of Eco-Design.

Further to this, more detail on the PhoneBlok concept can be read here below.

Phonebloks is a concept for a phone made of swappable components that fit together like Lego, with each component containing a different function. This means that components can be replaced or upgraded without having to throw away the phone.

“Usually a phone is integrated into one solid block and if one part gets broken you have to throw away the entire phone,” said Hakkens. “But this has different components, so if your battery is broken you can replace the the battery or if you need a better camera you only upgrade the camera component. So you don’t throw away the entire phone; you keep the good stuff.”

Last month Hakkens uploaded a video explaining the concept to YouTube, where it went viral and has now been watched over 16 million times.

He then put the idea on “crowdspeaking” site Thunderclap, where instead of donating money, supporters donate their social reach. He now has over 900,000 supporters on the site, and when the campaign closes on 29 October a message about Phonebloks will automatically be sent to each supporters’ social media contacts, giving Hakkens a total audience of over 360 million people.

Hakkens said: “That’s the whole point of this idea; to generate lots of buzz so companies see there’s a huge market and realise they really need to make a phone like this.”

The Phonebloks concept features electronic blocks that snap onto a base board, which links all the components. Two small screws lock everything together. Users can choose components from their favourite brands or make their own modules.

“You can customise your phone, replacing the storage block with a larger battery if you store everything in the cloud, or replace advanced components you don’t need with basic blocks like a bigger speaker,” says the video explaining the concept.

Hakkens hopes Phonebloks will lead to fewer phones being thrown away, thereby reducing waste. “Electronic devices are not designed to last,” the video says. “This makes electronic waste one of the fastest-growing waste streams in the world and our phone is one of the biggest causes.”

Here’s the interview conducted at Design Academy Eindhoven today:

Marcus Fairs: What is Phonebloks?

Dave Hakkens: Phonebloks is a phone made to upgrade and repair; it’s a phone worth keeping. Usually we throw it away after a couple of years. But this one is made to last.

Marcus Fairs: How is it made to last?

Dave Hakkens: Usually a phone is integrated into one solid block, and if one part gets broken you have to throw away the entire phone. But this has different components, so if for instance only your battery is broken you can replace the the battery, or if it’s slow after a couple of years you can change just the speed component. If you need a better camera you only upgrade the camera component. So in this way you don’t throw away the entire phone; you keep the good stuff.

Marcus Fairs: Tell us how it went viral.

Dave Hakkens: The idea with this whole project is I’m just one guy at the Design Academy; I can’t make this phone by myself. I can go to a lot of companies and pitch, ask them if they’d like to make my phone, but I thought I’d do it the other way around; so I gathered a lot of people who told companies they really wanted this phone. So I put this video online and in the first 24 hours I had like one million views on YouTube. I also gathered supporters so currently I have 900,000 supporters, and they all just wanted this phone. So now I have all this attention and I get a lot of nice emails from companies who want to work on this.

Marcus Fairs: How did you spread the message?

Dave Hakkens: You have this site called Thunderclap. On Thunderclap instead of crowdfunding you crowdspeak people; people don’t donate money but instead they donate their friends and family. You say you’re interested in a project and want to support it, so you donate your friends – their Facebook followers and Twitter followers – and on the 29 October automatically a message is sent out by those people saying “We want Phonebloks”. That spreads to all their friends and families. So currently I have like 900,000 supporters but on 29 October we will reach 300 million people. So that’s the whole point of this idea; to generate lots of buzz so companies see there’s a huge market and realise they really need to make a phone like this.

Marcus Fairs: What is the next step?

Dave Hakkens: My idea succeeded from day one; I got a lot of responses to it. I’ve got a lot of people interested in developing it: engineers, technicians and companies. So right now I’m thinking what would be a logical next step. Crowdsource it on the internet? Work together with a company? That’s what I’m thinking about now; how to realise the phone the best way.

There are a variety of potential barriers to developing products that are ‘made to be made again’, such as the time and labour intensity of repair and remanufacturing, the cost in designing products in this radical way, and the quality of the recovered components or materials.

The work of Dr Joseph Chiodo, of Active Disassembly Research, has addressed a number of these challenges. Active Disassembly is the process of designing a product using materials or processes that provide movement or release when faced with external stimuli. This is so that it can be dismantled in a non-destructive and hierarchical way. Dr Chiodo’s work began in the early 1990s, and initially focused on design for disassembly, indicating that more automated processes were required. A design led solution to disassembly was born using smart materials and processes. This reduced the mean time of disassembly, especially in large batch processing.

One of the first and most visually impressive examples of this technology is a screw that will lose its thread when heated, enabling high quality batch-disassembly, unlike the shredding or fragging recycling processes that occur in many industries today.

Following a series of research projects with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Sony, Nokia, Motorola and others, Dr Chiodo moved on to trying to get this technology into everyday products. With the price of smart materials previously a barrier to adoption at scale, the focus of research moved to using existing engineering materials and processes that have been made smart. These are specifically designed to address complex recycling issues where added value output fractions are desired. Some recent examples impose stresses in conventional engineering materials or provide significant change in mechanical properties on demand. One interesting project currently being investigated is adding an interstitial layer – a method that can enable the removal of sealant or adhesive in a single bead, preventing the contamination of recyclate.

The work of Active Disassembly Research has shown that technology exists to make remanufacturing and materials recovery faster and more effective, but current customer demand for higher performance and lower price, combined with linear business models of most OEMs hasn’t facilitated the uptake of this technology. Dr Chiodo says that there needs to be more pioneering projects to lead the way:

Customers are motivated. With a manufacturer or a 3rd party recycler willing to take the product back, then we will have a serious technology uptake and the majority of environmental impact eliminated. The right business plan will ultimately make extended life and ‘End-of-Life’ scenarios such as remanufacturing much less expensive since added value savings and very high output fractions can now be reclaimed. Thus, manufacturers will significantly profit from minimal design changes and marginal cost upfront as a strategic aspect of a portion of what they’re selling.

However (in addition to the original posting on ‘Blogger’), we’d like to think about how ‘Active Disassembly’ (AD) could be incorporated into such a great concept. The short answer to this question is, YES. Phonebloks is about a ‘Design for Modules’ (DfMod) concept, an Eco-Design technology method to extend product component lives and adapt the product structure with upgradable components and technology within the existing or new modules.

Because AD technology offers controlled disassembly within a hierarchical regime, AD can be used to frame the modules. Further to this, there are more advance options of the technology that can be applied. For example, connection devices could be controlled by electronic triggering which in itself can be triggered with latent battery power while the phone or candidate product

This can be considered a mastery of ‘Design for Modules’ (DfMod). This is a great example of ‘Design for Disassembly’ (DfD) Concept. If this can make the market, this will be a great interpretation of Eco-Design.

This paper’s details can be seen below and can also be viewed on this blog (original posting). The paper can be seen in html at “Assembly Automation: Smart materials use in active disassembly“. The pdf is available on the same page.

Purpose – Smart materials (SMs) have the potential for facilitating active disassembly (AD). Select SMs are used in the design of devices to aid product disassembly. The purpose of this paper is to compare different AD approaches and highlight future work and potential.Design/methodology/approach – This work is a survey of the collated AD research employing only Smart and “made Smart” materials work from various published work in the field from companies and academia since its original invention. The introduction gives general discussion of AD with cost implications and how the technology could offer very lean dismantling. An overview of the history of the work is given with the context of the implications for the need for a technology like AD to retain critical materials.Findings – Besides a survey to date, comparisons were made of each AD technology application highlighting advantages and challenges. Comparisons were also made prior to this in alternative disassembly strategies to give context to the potential usefulness of the technology.Practical implications – Only AD with SMs or “made Smart” were highlighted with some considerations for potential candidates.Originality/value – A survey of AD work only employing SMs and “made-Smart” materials to date. Comparisons of each AD application were made highlighting advantages and challenges. Comparisons were made between AD and alternative disassembly strategies to give context to the potential usefulness of the technology. The conclusion included an overview of work with consideration for future work. A candidate technology with the most potential was discussed.

Purpose – Smart materials (SMs) have the potential for facilitating active disassembly (AD). Select SMs are used in the design of devices to aid product disassembly. The purpose of this paper is to compare different AD approaches and highlight future work and potential.Design/methodology/approach – This work is a survey of the collated AD research employing only Smart and “made Smart” materials work from various published work in the field from companies and academia since its original invention. The introduction gives general discussion of AD with cost implications and how the technology could offer very lean dismantling. An overview of the history of the work is given with the context of the implications for the need for a technology like AD to retain critical materials.Findings – Besides a survey to date, comparisons were made of each AD technology application highlighting advantages and challenges. Comparisons were also made prior to this in alternative disassembly strategies to give context to the potential usefulness of the technology.Practical implications – Only AD with SMs or “made Smart” were highlighted with some considerations for potential candidates.

Originality/value – A survey of AD work only employing SMs and “made-Smart” materials to date. Comparisons of each AD application were made highlighting advantages and challenges. Comparisons were made between AD and alternative disassembly strategies to give context to the potential usefulness of the technology. The conclusion included an overview of work with consideration for future work. A candidate technology with the most potential was discussed.

The first third of the paper is centred around work conducted by Chiodo with further work conducted by others with assessments. Much of this work is by Liu, Li, Cheng and Zhan.

“This chapter discusses the principles of multi-step active disassembly, proposes the method of products multi-step active disassembly and divides the step of product parts according to the step division principle of multi-step active disassembly products. In addition, this chapter also proposes step division process of multi-step active disassembly products and determines parts in each step according to the process. Materials which have the same trigger medium and different trigger strength are used as active disassembly material, ensuring that trigger strength (such as temperature, magnetic field strength, etc) of active disassembly device which is in different disassembly step forms gradient. Trigger strength of active disassembly device increases along with the disassembly step from low to high. The joints which are in the same disassembly step use the active disassembly devices which have the same trigger strength. In different disassembly steps, install active disassembly parts according to the gradient. Lastly, disassemble the products by sending it to the different work areas.”

Design for Disassembly

As a detoxification strategy, design for disassembly is concerned primarily with disassembling computers and cell phones easily into their component parts in order to ensure that heavy metals do not end up in landfills.

Active disassembly is a method of disassembling products into their separate components by creating gadgets that can break apart just by being exposed to heat or magnetism. It allows for a clean, nondestructive, quick and efficient method of component separation. This saves money, and the materials can be recovered more efficiently.

Utilizing active disassembly, Nokia has created a prototype of a cell phone that dissembles itself in two seconds. Today, most cell phones and other small electronics are shredded instead of taken apart for recycling, because the disassembly time is too expensive for the amount of material reclaimed.